Phone Scammers

[bberkley]

So, yesterday we get a voicemail at home from some guy claiming to be a "Special Investigator" that rattles off some affidavit number, my wife's full name, the name of some person we don't know, and that failure to call back could result in warrants being issued for arrest.

My wife calls the number, and is treated pretty rudely by the person who answered, and when I got home, I call the number and get a recording that is full of stuttering, stammering, and threats of legal action etc., and leave a nastygram about how I didn't appreciate threatening messages, and that I would be in contact with the Oregon Attorney General's Office as well as the Maryland Attorney General's Office today.

Fast forward to 5:59 AM PDT, and our phone rings, and its this guy dropping F-bombs on my wife, and that all he was trying to do was help her regarding someone using her SSN. My wife calls back, and this guy curses at her again and hangs up on her. This gets me out of bed and on the phone, which resulted in yet more F-bombs and hanging up.

After my 2nd call to this guy, I tried a third time and the phone number doesn't exist. I tried with Skype in case he was blocking our number, and it didn't exist.

So, I called the Montgomery County Maryland Police Fraud Unit, our local PD, Qwest and reported it and then got on the internet and googled this guy and the phone number and came up with even more info to use in my quest.

I called a different number found on the internet for this guy, and used an "affidavit number" in the same internet search and finally got him on the phone, and told him I knew who he was and that I was prepared to crawl so far up his A$$ that he would see me when he brushed his teeth. He cussed me out and hung up. So I called the Montgomery County PD fraud unit again, and while I was talking to the detective, he put me on hold and called the number and left them a message.

I still have about $5 left on my skype account, and some free time, so I will be calling them all day using the 4 different aliases I found for this guy.

They will not tell me what company they represent, what their business name is, etc.

[bountyhunter]

The seventh level of Hell is reserved for the people who make their living bilking people out of money they actually earned.

that all he was trying to do was help her regarding someone using her SSN

I'm sure the fee he charges for this charitable service is quite reasonable.....

Edited June 11, 2008 by bountyhunter

[bberkley]

For an idea of how widespread and far-reaching these folks are: http://800notes.com/Area-Code.aspx/1-240

I found 4 business names for them, and the Oregon Attorney General's Office knew of them, and had previously filed a complaint with the FTC with one of the named companies from when they were in Ohio 2 years ago.

[davidwiz]

It could have been a collection agency trying to collect on a very old debt. Most of the time, they don't even have the right person. I've had similar experiences with clients of ours.

What I tell them is that if you don't know who is calling you, never give out any personal/financial information over the phone. Don't even confirm your name/address/phone #. If they are legitimate, they will send you a letter.

[CSEMARTIN]

What is a skype account?

[bberkley]

It could have been a collection agency trying to collect on a very old debt. Most of the time, they don't even have the right person. I've had similar experiences with clients of ours.

What I tell them is that if you don't know who is calling you, never give out any personal/financial information over the phone. Don't even confirm your name/address/phone #. If they are legitimate, they will send you a letter.

These folks are not a collection agency, they are scammers who have operated in at least 4 states.

They do purchase junk debt for pennies on the dollar, and use that to try and extort money from people who have had the debt discharged to CH 11 filings, etc.

The information I found out yesterday from our Attorney General's office, and the Maryland Business Regulation Fraud Investigation folks confirms the things I found online.

They certainly lied to us, because the guy claimed he was trying to help my wife with someone who was using my wife's SSN and listed my wife as a co-signer on a credit card.

None of my wife's credit reports show anything abnormal.

What is a skype account?

Skype is a program you can use to real-time chat, or make phone calls over the internet.

[davidwiz]

These folks are not a collection agency, they are scammers who have operated in at least 4 states.

They do purchase junk debt for pennies on the dollar, and use that to try and extort money from people who have had the debt discharged to CH 11 filings, etc.

If they are debt buyers, they are considered a collection agency under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. What you described them doing is certainly a violation of the FDCPA. Have you filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission?

[Rob Boudrie]

This is known as "zombie debt" - debt long since written off, sold for pennies on the dollar, and sent to collections whose skip tracers don't always get it right. Once the target of collections refuses to comply and the holder in due course ceases collection efforts, it remains dead until it's packaged as part of a batch and re-sold to another zombie debt buyer - at which point this previously dead debt takes on a new life, hence the term "zombie debt".

[bberkley]

These folks are not a collection agency, they are scammers who have operated in at least 4 states.

They do purchase junk debt for pennies on the dollar, and use that to try and extort money from people who have had the debt discharged to CH 11 filings, etc.

If they are debt buyers, they are considered a collection agency under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. What you described them doing is certainly a violation of the FDCPA. Have you filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission?

Filed a complaint with the FTC, the Oregon Attorney General's Office, the FBI, our local law enforcement's fraud unit, and the Maryland Department of Professional & Financial Regulation fraud folks.

They are calling us in regards to my wife's brother's wife's mother, if that makes sense. We don't know that person, and question how they got my wife's name associated with my brother-in-law's mother-in-law. All we can think of is that since her brother's name is similar to her name, they confused it. Who knows.

They are not a collection agency, they won't divulge the name of their company on the phone, and everything I've found out about them indicates there is nothing legitimate about them. If you ask them if they are a collection agency, and why they are violating the FDCPA, they state they aren't a collection agency and don't have to follow that.

They use the following names:

Litigation Consulting Services - Claims & Warrants

North American Asset Investigation Bureau

Worldwide Recovery Services

Worldwide Asset Investigation Services

Global Asset Investigations

Robert Goldstein & Associates (they claim to work for this real law firm in Ohio)

It is an inter-state criminal organization defrauding consumers, and frankly I'm pissed off that the only person I've talked to about that seems to give a damn about it is the lady with the State of Maryland that called me back yesterday.

I would give my left nut for some private time with the POS that cursed my wife on the phone.

Edited June 13, 2008 by bberkley

[CenTX]

This probably is one of the companies that buy old, written off, discharged debt. In most cased the debt is no longer a legally collectable debt and may well have been a disputed account. They will try to collect from anyone, the actual debtor, relatives, or anyone with the same or a similar name. However, they will also attempt to collect from you if you now the debtors old phone number or now live at the address that the debtor lived at.

Spending time and effort with these guys is a waste of time except that while they are tied up with you they can't bother someone who might buckle under their demands. Once they find out you arn't going to give them any money they will move on to someone else.

[Tom S.]

I would give my left nut for some private time with the POS that cursed my wife on the phone.

So why don't you tell them you'll bring them the money - and go meet him?

I would!

Edited June 13, 2008 by Tom S.

[bberkley]

I would give my left nut for some private time with the POS that cursed my wife on the phone.

So why don't you tell them you'll bring them the money - and go meet him?

I did, and he hung up on me.

[Tom S.]

I would give my left nut for some private time with the POS that cursed my wife on the phone.

So why don't you tell them you'll bring them the money - and go meet him?

I did, and he hung up on me.

Well then. since he refused you obviously don't owe. Too bad you can't let his boss know he refused.....

To say I hate these low life %^$%& would be a vast understatement!

[davidwiz]

Part of the "problem" is that the people making the phone calls, be it for a "legitimate" collection agency or 3rd party debt buyer, are usually paid on commission and work on a quota system, which leads to high-pressure (and illegal) tactics to get people to pay. I've dealt with all kinds of collection agencies and debt buyers on behalf of our clients.

The FDCPA does apply to 3rd party debt buyers, which a lot of them think that they are exempt from. Heck, I've even had consumer collection attorneys tell me that they are exempt from the FDCPA. A 3rd party cross-claim usually takes care of that.

If you have any questions, I'd be willing to try to help out. You can IM or email me and my office phone # is listed on my web site, which is in my profile.